//------------------------------// // The Road to the Scrap Heap is Paved by Good Intentions... // Story: Music To Our Ears... // by Prorook363 //------------------------------// “I don’t think we should be doing this Shockwave, Lord Megatron will not-“ “Lord Megatron? How long will you refer to him as your Lord you lumbering rust bucket. In this time of the war, I’m certain that there will be nothing left to rule if a new leader isn’t established”. “What you speak of is TREASON! I only helped because I thought it was for the Decepticon cause” spat the green cybertronian. “IT IS FOR THE DECEPTICON CAUSE!” the Purple Scientist retorted. “And you dare to turn me over to the likes of Megatron, Shockblast? After Stellar Cycles of helping me? How will he know you gained this information? Give me one LOGICAL reason on how you could have acquired such Info. You do not think Megatron will hesitate to extinguish your spark if he found you played a part in helping plan his assassination?” The Decepticon stopped in his tracks, left speechless. A sound I quite enjoyed. But sadly, the other bot was still rambling. It never ended quickly for him. “When I rip Megatron from his throne, I’ll be the one to lead the Decepticons to victory…” The purple bot was rambling around his lab. To me, it looked like a communications nest, with all that wiring, but after months of gathering intel I knew better. “… using the only true master: Pure Logic!” Always with the logic. That’s all the short circuited scientist ever talked about. Out of all the traitors who have tried countless times to overthrow Megatron, I always saw Starscream as the most futile. This guy, though, is changing my opinion. “Megatron wastes his precious resources into a war he cannot win and…” Seriously this guy never shuts up, even when he’s alone. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Soundwave although a lot of my ‘comrades’ refer to me as many other names such as Extortionist, Black-Mailer, and personal Lap Dog. I like to look at myself as an Opportunist though. I am the eyes and ears of the Decepticon cause, considering I’m the Communications Specialist that’s runs this business (with all due respect to Megatron) “How do you plan to terminate Megatron, exactly?” Shockblast spat. “That bot has dealt with so many traitors I’m sure there’s no way this plan can succeed” Congratulations kid you earned a medal for pointing out the obvious. Shockwave, on the other hand, is too arrogant to ever get that to his head. “I mean…” continued Shockblast, “All I’ve been doing is gathering parts and dealing with Swindle to help you modify the Space Bridge which, to me seems…” You are dumber than an insecticon, I swear. “…You’re trying to run away or something?”. If I wasn’t worried about giving away my position I would’ve gone down to the lab to kick his exhaust port myself. I couldn’t give my position away like that though, so up here in the vents would have to do for now. But honestly where did Shockwave even find this bot? “Brother you worry too much…” I forgot they’re related. A result of a split protoform distributing there sparks evenly. But despite resemblance, the two were nothing alike. “… As you know, the Space Bridge allows us to travel distant universes far and wide.” I knew his plan. I’ve been reporting my findings back to Megatron for quite some time, but I’ve held off some intel to ‘connect the dots’. It was insane and honestly I was just sticking around to see these two get themselves killed. “…Today we make history. Thanks to your help I have been able to amplify the space bridge to not travel universes, but to cross dimensions.” Wait, what the Scrap? That wasn’t the plan originally. He previously stated he was intended to amplify the space bridge to travel into the heart of Unicron to gather dark energon. Then he would create weapons distributed with Dark Energon to mercenaries. It was a plan that was loosely based, and obviously, the two would not survive a nano-click in the heart of the beast. Still it actually proved a threat against Megatron and as the communication officer, it was my duty to report these findings. Now though, something wasn’t adding up. “There is a fundamental theory out there…” As a Communication Officer, I myself have an interest in science, but Shockwave knows how to ruin my interest. “….States that universes repeat, which leads to the possibility of parallel or similar universes. Thus, if I can amplify a frequency to reach out these universes I can gather coordinations to acquire the Dark Energon we desire”. Shockblast only looked precautious. ‘Dark Energon only comes from Unicron how do you plan…” “There is a universe out there, which promises an abundant amount of Dark Energon , with a different side effect…” Shockblast protested, “What do you mean?” Yeah what did you mean Shockwave? Shockwave only glance at his apprentince and turned from the control panels. I followed his movements, trying to piece together the true intentions of their plan. Finally he came to a halt in front of metallic blinds that seemed to guard the doctor’s true intentions. As Shockwave interacted with the console in front of him, I focused my attention to the Metallic blinds which lifted up to reveal a glass window sealing in nothing but darkness. “Ready to see the future, Shockblast?” Shockwave asked, rather eerily. Before his assistant can reply, Shockwave dialed a knob that illuminated the dark room. I narrowed my eyes as I saw the window of the room, splattered with a dark purple color. I knew that was energon but none like I’ve ever seen before. Dark energon possibly? Dark energon never glowed vibrantly like that though. But that’s not what caught my attention. The creature inside was the center of my attention. “What in the name of Primus is that?!” shrieked Shockblast. For a Decepticon, he seemed to have the courage of a pathetic Autobot scout. The creature lumbered around, pounding its fist on the walls and slumping to one side. Its body was ridden with dents and scratches and drenched with the vibrant substance wherever it walked. Shockwave looked at his prize possession with great admiration. Most Decepticons ruled him out as insane. Sadly as much as I despised him, I saw him as my equal. “Before you retrieved the last few Items to enhance the space bridge, I had my first trial”. Shockwave never removed his gaze from the creature. “Very unprofessional, yes, but sometimes they say, the best discoveries in science happen on accident.” He turned his single eye to his brother now. “I ran a quick trial and before I could enter any coordinates, the machine acted on its own, as if it randomized a destination. I stood there bewildered at this ‘Fine’ specimen…” Doesn’t look so fine to me. “…out of the bridge into my Lab. Before I could act any further the bridge began to close within itself. To prevent any damage to the bridge, I shut down the system, but not before I got my hands on the coordinates the system randomized.” He looked around now, as if to expect any one else in the room. The mad-bot continued. “The coordinations, led to an alternate Cybertron, which seemed to be streaming with the substance that creature had. It was Dark Energon, but none like ours.” Shockwave gleamed at Shockblast now. “It has the ability to raise the dead” That’s blasphemous but yet…It isn’t of our world. It could be possible. But the fact does not help when a substance as dangerous as that finds its way into the hands of a maniacal assassin. And Shockwave was never short of allies. “How do you know?” Shockblast exclaimed, with a hint of curiosity. “I’ve run test on the subject and have even run test on decease cybertronians. Well, most of them were deceased.” Shockblast glared at his sinister brother. “I needed to run multiple trials along with a control, you wouldn’t understand. Sadly I cannot weaponize this energon for it is too unstable. I needed live samples of this substance and the only way to get them…” Shockwave narrowed his optic to the space bridge. He was willing to travel to another dimension, to overthrow Megatron? There had to be more to the picture. Shockwave turned back to the controls in front of the glass window, turned the lights off, and shut down the blinds. My circuits were racing. What does Shockwave plan to do with Dark Energon? There was an answer to that question but was he really that insane. Apparently his brother thought the same. “So you plan to assassinate Megatron by letting Zombies run free.” Shockblast asked, following his brothers footsteps as he walked to the Space Bridge control panel. “are their bites infectious?” Shockwave didn’t even turn around. His actions said it all. “Shockwave?” “Survival of the Fittest” Shockwave stated, finally breaking the silence. “What?” “Only the strong survive brother. The weak perish” answered Shockwave not turning from the console. He was truly mad. I couldn’t stay here in the vents and let him plan out this assault. I had to act out fast. This wasn’t for Megatron anymore. What this scientist proposed was madness. If his plan succeeded there will be no cybertronian left. It will lead to our own extinction. I had to stop him. “You have to have a cure or somethi-“. Shockblast was still babbling. It was only obvious he was welled up with fear. “…You ask too many questions, why don’t you ask our visitor…” Visitor? I scanned the room thoroughly for any other Cybernetic organisms present in the room. Who could he- Oh scrap. I quickly transformed and tore through the vents in the upper ceiling bringing down wires and machinery as I came down. No sooner as I fell through, a shot erupted from Shockwave’s pulse cannon in the area where I once camped. I came up and holstered out my Concussion Blaster aiming directly at Shockwave and aiming my shoulder cannon directly at Shockblast. The room was silent. I gazed at Shockwave into his single yellow optic as he stared back into my red visors. Shockblast was not my target. “It was only a matter of time Soundwave” snapped Shockwave. His voice was so dreadful and arrogant. I felt that was enough of a reason to take him out then and there. “It would only be a matter of time until you knew our true intentions to modifying this Space Bridge. I hope that pathetic story of mercs, is helping Megatron rest a little more comfortably during the moons.” “What you speak of Shockwave is madness and you know it.” I replied. “No Soundwave, it is simply Evolution. Soon those who cannot manage to live will perish and leave way for a more adequate species” Shockwave gleamed at me wondering what my next move was. I will not underestimate him, he has the tendency of being to analytical. I decided to just keep him talking. “What you speak of is genocide. Do you really plan on using these monstrosities for your will?”. This was different. Megatron was no longer my main priority, only the fate of Cybertron, and these two lugheads. “NO” Exclaimed shockwave, a glint of orange appearing in his optic. “It is extermination, and it will wipe Cybertron of the scum of this world. There will be no more war when I’m done with my plans-“ “Just hungry ravenous zombies I presume?” I retorted. Shockwave fell silent and still had his weapon risen on me. I came to realize that it would be almost impossible to take both of them out. I’ve taken on many Cybertronians directly but these two were different. Their skills equaled mine, if not surpassed mine. I needed to act fast. I looked over quickly at Shockblast who stood there looking me dead in the visor. Maybe he wasn’t as pathetic as I thought. Shockwave did not drop his gaze. I decided to plan things quickly. If I try to fight both, I’m bound to die by one of their hands and the plan continues. If I kill one, I may be killed in the process so that’s a negative. It seemed hard to devise a plan. Then it hit me. I’ve been to focus on shedding blood that I didn’t realize the main goal was to stop their goal. Maybe if I- VRAK! I ducked just in time to dodge the twin duo’s shots. By primus that would’ve took my head off. I needed to find a way to distract the two without getting blasted before I destroy the Space Bridge. Then in the corner of my visor I saw a crate of energon. Now the tables were going to turn. “Ravage and Lazerbeak: Eject. Operation: Termination”. More like operation ‘save my exhaust port’. I ejected the two out of my chest to allow me cover fire. I will not underestimate my Allies but they’ll only be capable to take on one. As I dove to retrieve the box of energon, I saw that my cassette-bots took on the weakest member, Shockblast. That left me with the coldblooded Shockwave. I turned my head over the table, only to have two lazers pass by my head. I quickly jumped up and shot my concussion blaster aimlessly, trying to at least startle my attacker. It did not work. Shockwave was a walking calculator and if he saw that there wasn’t a chance he’d be hit he wouldn’t budge. Fortunately I possessed the same ability. I kept firing at the doc who was now beginning to realize my shots were becoming more accurate. He finally got the message when my shot directly hit him in his right shoulder. He fell back and retreated behind a center console. Now was the chance to end this mad scientist’s dreams once and for all. I picked up the crate of energon and lobbed it over where Shockwave crouched, until I saw Ravage fling across the room and smash into the crate. I quickly looked to my left and saw that Shockblast was grabbing Lazerbeak by both wings and split her down the middle. With a triumphant look he gazed at me ready to work his pulse cannon on me, until I glanced over to my side to see Shockwave blast me with his pulse cannon. I flinched as the the blast met with my right shoulder, and I felt my finger clutch onto the trigger. VAPP! I saw that my shot hit the Space Bridge’s control panel and I felt accomplished. I somewhat foiled Shockwave’s plan but it wasn’t over. I got up one more time to finish off the Traitor aiming my sights down the weapon… ZZZZ! Oh Primus, gahhh that hurt. ughh this pain isn't stopping. What’s going on? I glanced up quickly to see Shockblast holding a cannon of some sort in his hand. It was a big sjhoulder mounted cannon that seemed to be generating electricity from the front of the barrel. I can feel my body tightening, my circuits are clenching up. Then I found myself transforming! I tried to revert back into my robot mode but I couldn’t. Did he fry my transformation cog? No that would’ve left me in robot mode and the pain would have not been as bad as this. “Hey Shockwave I got him…Shockwave?’. I was on the floor, close to reverting back to my Walkman disguise. Why did I pick this piece of scrap for an alt mode again? “The space bridge is malfunctioning, I can’t control it. The consoles fried!” shrieked Shockwave. Shockblast walked over to my side ignoring his brother. “The prototype worked Shockwave. What do we do with Soundwave? ” This guy was oblivious to everything around him seriously. He was now towering over me now, with a hint of laughter in his voice as he said, “This here is a weapon design I patched up myself. It targets the Transformation cog and reverses its effect”. He knelt down next to me, and despite the pain I tried to lash out at him. I couldn’t though. I was immobile. “Best part of the B.F.G. though” Shockblast continued. He liked this. “It locks you in your altmode”. The deranged bot stood up from where he knelt and kick me in my sides. It was nothing compared to this pain as I felt electricity spark through me, my circuits frying from the inside. I finally fell victim to its effects and transformed back into my alt mode. Despite the pain though, I was able to still hear and see what was going on. Apparently, Shockblast was so caught up with torturing me, he forgot about his brother, scrambling through the controls to fix my handy work. Shockblast nearly knelt down to lift me up in is palm. His brother turned back, his optic now gleaming red. I think he could melt a hole into someone’s head with that stare. “DON’T JUST STAND THERE HELP ME-“. Apparently Shockwave didn’t have time to finish. There was an explosion far from the back of the lab, and the shockwave (ironic yes) caused Shockwave and Shockblast to fling from the ground. In my case I flung from Shockblast’s palm soaring through the air. I was flailing in all directions, spinning in all angles, until I found myself flailing forwards into the Space Bridge . I forgot about everything in the world and hoped that wherever I was going, wasn’t filled with energon-thirsty zombots. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I felt my circuits melting as I passed through the space bridge to the other Cybertron. As the second opening sprouted open I saw a bright light. Was I slipping into stasis? Wait no, stasis I heard results in lights dimming and- SHWAAA I was shot out of the portal up above the ground. I knew that because as soon as I popped out I was hit by a bright shine of a large star in the sky. Was this Cybertron in its glory days? Well for me there was never any glorious days back when Cybertron was war free. Then I remembered what follows after popping out of a semi-high altitude (I couldn’t really tell though): Gravity. I was spinning down all the way to the ground. I swear my senses were begininning to fail on me, for all I saw on the way down was a variety of bright colors. That is until I hit something. That hurt more than getting bit by a sharkticon I’ll give it that. I came tumbling down from where my body received its blow and starting bouncing off these light shaded rods, slowly descending closer to the ground. Each smack wasn’t as bad as the first, but it still was not pleasant. Finally after what felt like stellar cycles, I bounced off the last rod and found myself falling face(?) first into the ground. This ground was not of Cybertronian origin though. It was green and- THUD! I smacked the floor so hard my alt mode’s small frame bounced and I found myself laying upwards. That last fall hurt almost as bad as the first. I think my tape deck compartment cracked. Oh well at least the falls were over. Now, I had to find out where I was. This wasn’t Cybertron, I knew that. Looking up at the bright sky I saw clouds and the vibrant glow of this planet’s sun, but those light shaded rods were not nowhere close to cybertronian. In fact they weren’t really rods, more so like light organic buildings. Wait, I’ve seen these before. On a particular planet inhabited by…humans. They called these structures trees if I could recall. Was I back on earth? No I couldn’t. After working so hard with the Decepticons to get our sorry tailpipes back to our home planet, I end up right where I started? I was so enveloped In my own rage I simply lashed out every insult I could. That scrapping scientist just had to tarnish everything with his obsession with playing god. That arrogant junkion could never be anything to the likes of Primus or Unicron. Well I foiled his plans, and this is my cost for that. After all they say the road to the scrap heap is paved out by good intentions. Honestly though, being stranded back on earth and locked in my alt mode was a punishment far worse than death. Staring up at the sky and being surrounded by trees is going to result in me either losing my sanity or dying of boredom. I honestly preferred dying of boredom. Oh well, I guess I’m just going to have to wait here and stare up at these clear skies. If I wasn’t so cold blooded, I would’ve found an interest in earth’s skies. Much cleaner and lively than Cybertron’s darkened skies, a result of eons of warfare. Honestly though I’ve never- SNAP! What was that? I couldn’t exactly turn this damn body to work, but luckily my curcuits weren’t fully fried to the point where it impaired my senses. This time though, I began to hear rustling of leaves and footsteps. I’ve always had a special ability to amplify Soundwave frequencies which have allowed me to gamble with many cybertronians back in my time. But if my circuits were partially fried, what if my amplifier is going haywire and the owner of these noises were farther then it seemed? Well it’s not like I want them to find me. Usually I have the habit of tearing apart houses, of the insects that come and use me for their personal interest. That dreaded music, I hate it with all my spark. Noisy nonsense that processes nothing more than happiness into those pathetic fleshlings. The thought itself made me sick. That’s when I heard voices. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Apple Bloom, don’t you think were a little far from home”, Sweetie Belle mumbled. The white filly with the pink and purple mane was slowly following her two companions who were clearly ahead. “Don’t sweat it Sweetie Belle! We’ve only been walking in a straight line this whole time!” the orange Pegasus reassured her. “Yeah and even if we did get lost, that still won’t stop the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” added Apple Bloom, her hoof in the air and looking back at her friends triumphantly, her bow swaying at the same time. “Umm, Apple Bloom that clearly did not help” said Scootaloo, who shot a look at the yellow earth pony. “N-no I’m okay guys” Sweetie Belle muttered. “We’ve never wondered this far before in the Everfree forest though so I’m a tad bit nervous”. “We’re Cutie Mark Crusaders Sweetie Belle, cutie marks just don’t pop out of nowhere, we got to earn ‘em!” Apple Bloom stated, although her assertive manner looked funny. Sweetie Belle perched up her head and looked at her two companions. Scootaloo seemed to have wandered off from their ‘straight path’, directing her gaze past a couple of trees. Apple Bloom glanced as her orange friend wandered off and glanced at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle only shrugged and the two began to follow their curious companion. No sooner as they started to follow they heard Scootaloo shout out, “Hey guys look I found something” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What. In. The. Name. Of. Primus? I think maybe my circuits are shorted because right now I’m looking at a colorful mammalian creature staring down at me. I’ve seen these creatures on Earth before; I think they’re called horses if I can remember. But these creatures are- “What did you find Scootaloo?” Yeah. The horse was able to talk. Now two others accompanied this orange creature, their heads peering over me. The two others were white and yellow and looked down at me with big luminous optics. One apparently had a horn attached to their head. They poked their heads over me in a Y formation similar to the weapon that immobilized me. I swear if I ever get back to Cybertron I’m going to slowly extinguish both Shockblast and Shockwave’s sparks slowly and painful- “What does this button do?”, the yellow one exclaimed, pressing down on my shoulder. She pressed on the eject button, and my tape deck compartment shot open. The three horses retreated from the sight of it opening. I felt a sense of relief when they left but that was short lived. They came back, towering over head and began to talk amongst one another. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “What do you think it does?” Scootaloo asked, staring at the weird rectangular object on the floor. “I don’t know Scootaloo but should we leave it here or take it back with us?” Apple Bloom replied, eyes still gazing upon the weird artifact. “I think I know what that is” Sweetie Belle finally said. The two other Crusaders glanced up at the Unicorn, confused as to hear how she would know what such an object was. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If the white one says Decepticon I’m Scrapped… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It’s a sort of Music Player, I think” Sweetie Belle said, looking at her two friends. “How do you know?” Scootaloo asked puzzled. Apple Bloom nodded her head in agreement. “Well if you look at it, it has buttons on the bottom that say play, record, and all that other mumbo jumbo. I know those signs anywhere”. The two friends looked at their white toned companion, and did not deny her musical knowledge considering she had a talent for singing. That’s when Apple Bloom’s eyes brightened up. “Guys I know how to get our cutie marks”. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Okay so I got lucky. These horses had no clue what I really was. Wait shouldn’t horses in general not have a clue? Damn what kind of earth did I get warped into. “…Well who else in all of Equestria has a passion for…thingies like this?” I heard these three rambling for quite some time. It was really getting to me. Suddenly I felt myself getting lifted up from the ground. Well at least i don’t have to worry about dying of boredom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Look at it Sweetie Belle” shot Apple Bloom who pointed at the Cassette Player in Scootaloo’s mouth. “The way it looks just screams her name out”. The yellow pony was prancing up and down with glee. Scootaloo spat out the cassette player. “Well if you really think its hers, we should head back and give it to her then”. Sweetie Belle looked at her companions immediately and did not renounce that idea. “Fine. Lets go Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Apple Bloom commanded and the three began to walk. Scootaloo bent down and pick up the cassesete player in her mouth. “Now, which way did we come from again?” Apple Bloom muttered. Both her friends heard though. ‘What!” they both shrieked. Apple Bloom looked at them and laughed. “You should’ve seen the look on your faces!” she said giggling as she proceeded down and took a right. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shared a look and the two proceeded down after their friend, The cassette player still in the orange Pegasus mouth. The Cutie Mark Crusaders descended down the path they came, singing and chatting (Scootaloo muffling words through the object in her mouth) “Man I can’t wait to see the look on her face when we give her back her music thingy-ma-jobber!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Yeah, when we give it back to Vinyl Scratch, we are for sure to get are cutie marks!” Sweetie Belle replied. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What the scrap is a Vinyl Scratch?